Hanoi (VNA) - Takemore than a year if needed, but get good advice and avoid previous educationreform mistakes, NA deputies told the Government on November 2.

Responding to a proposalby the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) to delay planned educationalreforms by a year, a majority of the 14th National Assembly deputies advisedcaution.

They said education wasa top national priority and the reforms must be carefully designed and executedeven if it takes longer than a year.

The deputies also urgedthe ministry to consult with education experts, both national andinternational, to avoid making the same mistakes as in previous reforms.

The ministry had proposedthe reform of the system, including textbook content, be pushed back from the2018-19 academic year dictated in the 13th NA’s Decision No 88 issued in 2014.

Deputies asked theministry to present a more detailed implementation process with solutions toongoing issues and contingency plans.

They suggested that theministry provides local authorities with guidelines and information to preparefor the reform. The public should also be given more information about theplanned reforms, they said.

Deputy Duong Minh Tuanfrom the southern province of Ba Ria–Vung Tau said a major concern amongvoters in his locality was the equipping of children with life skills toprotect themselves from sex predators and other dangers like drowning. Theywere also anxious about the affordability of new textbooks, he said.

Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, adeputy from the central city of Da Nang, said that while important, textbookswere just one of many factors in the country’s education reform effort. Anotherequally important factor, if not more so, was the capability of teachers towork with the new textbook content and students every day.

Tien said the teachersshould be able to obtain necessary training to prepare for the reform. She alsourged the ministry to address the shortage of teachers in mountainous andremote areas as well as the upgrading of facilities there. It has been reportedoften that the facilities in such areas are very poor compared to the rest ofthe country.

Also stressing theimportance of education quality in mountainous and remote regions, deputy TrieuThe Hung from the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong called for moreGovernment support to ethnic minority groups for preserving their culturalheritages and for young students to catch up with their peers in other parts ofthe country. The province is home to numerous Vietnamese ethnic groups.

Hung said that in orderto protect the groups’ languages, which are crucial for preserving theircultural heritage and identities, classes in their own languages must beavailable from early grades onwards.

He also said that thecurrent policy to award students from mountainous and remote regions with extramarks in the university entrance exams would not help them catch up, and it wasalso unfair to others.

The only way to addressthis issue to invest more in education, to improve teachers’ living standardsand teaching facilities, Hung said.

Budgetary concerns

Minister of Educationand Training Phung Xuan Nha said that the ministry will make all financialdetails about the reform widely available in light of rumours in recent yearsthat it would cost the public a massive amount.

So far, the expense isestimated at just under 2 million USD, Nha said.

Nha was responding to ademand made by deputy Nguyen Huu Cau that the ministry publicises the reform’sfinancial reports, detailing expenses, including expenditures incurred thusfar.

The minister said thatthere were many challenges in transforming the country’s education system,which has heavily and rigidly been in favour of the amount of knowledge itimparts rather than develop students’ skills and independent thinking.

Nha said that theministry did not see education reform as a total replacement of old material.It should develop the existing value of the old material with new and improvedmethods, he added.

“The ministry viewsreform as a process which does not have a deadline… we will continue to addressissues and constantly adapt our approach,” Nha said.

The minister said thedelay in implementing reforms had been proposed because the ministry needs tomore time to consult with education experts and teachers, review their feedbackand make necessary changes.

On the redesigning ofschool textbooks, Nha said the ministry encourages qualified and capablestakeholders to get involved in the process.  

He said: “My observationis that most teachers are more than happy to welcome changes to our educationsystem and the ministry will provide them with training and guidelines so theycan best prepare for the reform.” VNA